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group=lower-alpha is a 1981 multidirectional shooter video game developed and published by Namco for Japanese and European arcades; it was distributed by Midway Games in North America. The goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying enemy missiles and bases using a ship which shoots simultaneously both the front and back.
Bosconian was commercially successful in Japan and received positive critical reception, but did not achieve the global commercial success of other shoot 'em ups from the golden age of arcade video games. It was ported to home computers as Bosconian '87 (1987) and spawned two sequels: Blast Off (1989) and Final Blaster (1990). Since its release, Bosconian has been regarded by critics as influential in the shoot 'em up genre.
Additionally, the player must avoid or destroy stationary asteroids, mines, and a variety of enemy missiles and ships which attempt to collide with his or her ship. Enemy bases will also occasionally launch a squadron of ships in formation attacks — destroying the leader causes all remaining enemies to disperse, but destroying all enemies in a formation scores extra bonus points. A spy ship will also appear occasionally, which must be destroyed or the game's alert system will turn to red regardless of how long the player has taken. Throughout the game, a digitized voice alerts the player to various events, such as incoming enemies or an approaching spy ship.
Upon release, Bosconian received generally positive reviews. Video Games Magazine referred to the game as a "treat for Galaxian fans" and opining that, while it did not "break ground insofar as graphics, sounds, weaponry, and antagonists are concerned", it had "a terrific eight-way joystick that has great maneuverability". Electronic Games called it "a real space-gamer's delight", highly praising its 360-degree movement and the ship's simultaneous front-rear fire, which they noted made it the first game to feature either element, as well as its graphics, gameplay, and other mechanics.
Mike Roberts and Steve Phipps of Computer Gamer reviewed the arcade game several years after its release in 1985, stating it was "good value" and still "enjoyable" to play. In a retrospective 1998 review of the game, Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame wrote that the game's front-rear firing system, radar display, and alert system "helped make the game a cut above the average shooter of the era".
In another retrospective review in 2018 of the Sharp X68000 version of the game, Akiba PC Hotline! praised the conversion's accurate portrayal of the arcade original and the "wonderful" rearranged soundtrack. Beep! criticized the Sord M5 version of the game for its poor quality, low difficulty level, and the lack of features from the arcade original, such as the voice samples.
In 1998, Japanese publication Gamest selected Bosconian as one of the best arcade games of the era, complementing its Rally-X-like radar system, atmosphere and addictive nature. They have cited it as being an influential shooter for its vast game world and setting, labeling it as "an excellent introductory game" for players new to the genre.
A sequel to Bosconian, Blast Off, was released in 1989 in Japan. A second sequel, Final Blaster, was released in 1990 for the PC Engine, also in Japan.
Bosconian, Blast Off, and Final Blaster were retroactively added to the UGSF timeline shared with Galaxian and other Namco arcade titles.
Bosconian later appeared in several Namco Museum compilations for PlayStation and other consoles, including Namco Museum Vol. 1, Namco Museum 50th Anniversary, Namco Museum Virtual Arcade, and Namco Museum Megamix. The game has also been released as part of Jakks Pacific's TV game controllers. On August 24, 2023, the arcade version of Bosconian was digitally re-released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as part of Hamster Corporation's Arcade Archives series.
Among the games based on Bosconian was Draconian, a multidirectional shooter for TRS-80 Color Computer. It was written by Mike Hughey I wrote a few games for the TRS-80 color computer about 20 years ago., Mike Hughey 2007-07-23, speedsolving.com Draconian, Reviewed by: Joanne Ziskl, Page 40, Vol 1/Issue 2, The Gamers Connection (September–October 1988), Published:September 1988 Subject: CoCo software archives, Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997, My name is Mike Hughey. I contributed a few games of some value to the CoCo world, and I would be THRILLED to give my permission for these games to be distributed freely. Please feel free to distribute them as desired, in whatever format. The two "good" games I distributed were both through Tom Mix: Draconian, Grabber and published via Tom Mix Software in 1984, then converted to the Dragon 32/64.
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